REGINA — Days of dining indoors are over for Tenille Lafontaine, who was planning to stick to takeout for Valentine's Day.
Her family visited their favourite restaurants on the weekend in anticipation of the province lifting its public health order Monday that required residents to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test to enter most businesses.
"We're definitely not dining in until we can get into patio season, which in Saskatchewan is a ways off," Lafontaine said. "Even in terms of going to a shopping mall, we'll order online if we need clothes or the odd thing. It's not worth it."
Tamara Hinz of Saskatoon said she, too, would enjoy Valentine's Day by ordering in. She and her partner had one last date at a restaurant last week.
"We definitely paused and reflected once we were there. We're not going to feel so comfortable having an impromptu dinner date like that," Hinz said. "It did feel bittersweet."
Hinz said she will monitor COVID-19 trends in the coming weeks before mingling in crowds that now include the vaccinated and unvaccinated. But keeping tabs is harder now, since Saskatchewan only reports COVID-19 data once a week.
"That makes it all that more difficult for a Saskatchewan resident to assess the landscape and the risk they're putting themselves in," Hinz said.
For others, Premier Scott Moe's ditching the vaccine policy and the government's shift to "living with COVID-19" came at the perfect time.
Nik Selanos, co-owner of Memories Fine Dining and Bar in Regina, said he had a full house booked for Valentine's Day.
"This year is much bigger than last year" when there were restrictions on gathering sizes, Selanos said.
His customers have not expressed much hesitation over dining out for Valentine's Day without the health order in place, he said.
"For the most part … they are fine with it," Selanos said.
"We need to get things back to where they were. It's going to take people a lot of time to adjust to having no restrictions. As owners, we're looking forward to normalcy. It's been a rough go the past couple of years."
Moe said last week that while the vaccine passport initially helped increase vaccination rates, the costs now outweigh the benefits.
Businesses that choose to ask for people's vaccination status should "consult their lawyers," he added.
On Monday, the Saskatchewan Party government decommissioned the app that businesses used to scan QR codes for proof of vaccination. The app is no longer available for download by new users and current users have been asked to delete the app from their devices.
Some businesses and organizations have said they will continue to check people's vaccination status despite the government's decision.
Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon posted on its website and social media accounts that all patrons, staff and artists will still be required to show their vaccination status.
In a statement, the University of Regina said all registered students, faculty and staff on campus will have to continue showing vaccine passports or meet testing requirements. The policy has been lifted for those visiting campus.
The province has two remaining health orders in place. One requires people to wear masks in indoor public places and the second mandates self-isolation when someone tests positive for the virus.
Both of those orders are to expire at the end of the month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2022.
Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press
